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Past and Present

6th Mar 2020

Changes in abilities that come with dementia can make it hard to continue with activities and hobbies. Focusing on how to change the activities so that they are enjoyable can reduce agitation and anxiety, making the activities a little easier and less confusing just by showing and giving a helping hand.

Here at Bridgewater Home Care we have a few simple steps to ensure that our clients can still enjoy their hobbies and activities:

Simple and unhurried activities are best. Give the time and space necessary to allow the person to do as much as possible. Focus on one thing at a time. Communicate one instruction at a time. Breakdown activities into simple, manageable steps.

Our clients may not do things at home but when they are in an environment like ours here at the centre and they see others joining in around them they feel more confident and will take part. Enjoying a hobby reduces the risk of depression, improves physical health and increases socialization. Having dementia does not mean that a person can no longer enjoy familiar and new activities.

We have been able to achieve so much as we have the time to spend with clients, we are able to source the activities needed for each individual client, for example –

• We got a piano so one client could start to play again after years of refusing to play at home
• We got a lady to start knitting again and she knitted over 30 bonnets for the premature babies at a local hospital
• We got a gentleman to ballroom dance again by getting his long lost dancing partners to the day centre

These are just a few achievements that prove that Day Care is so important and has a huge impact on those living with dementia.